Adrienne Rich

Poet and feminist (1929-2012)

Aesop

Alain Badiou

Albert Camus

French philosopher and author (1913-1960)

Alex Haley

Author (1921-1992)

Alice Cary

Allen Ginsberg

Beat poet and writer (1926-1997)

Anatole France

Anaïs Nin

French American diarist and author (1903-1977)

Ann Lauterbach

Anna Gavalda

Anne Truitt

Sculptor (1921-2004)

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

French writer and aviator (1900-1944)

Aristotle

Ancient Greek philosopher (384-322 BCE)

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Benjamin Disraeli

Former U.K. prime minister (1804-1881)

Benjamin Hoff

Betty Smith

Bianca Sparacino

Booker T. Washington

Brené Brown

Researcher and storyteller (1965-present)

Byron Katie

C.S. Lewis

British writer (1898-1963)

Carl Sagan

Astronomer and science communicator (1934-1996)

Charles Dickens

English novelist (1812-1870)

Charlie Kaufman

Screenwriter and film director (1958-present)

Charmaine Wilkerson

Jamaican American journalist and author (Unknown-present)

Cher

Cheryl Strayed

Author (1968-present)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nigerian author (1977-present)

Christopher Germer

Clinical psychologist (Unknown-present)

Cicero

Roman statesman, lawyer, and scholar (106-43 BCE)

Cornel West

Philosopher, activist, and social critic (1953-present)

Dalai Lama

Spiritual leader of the Tibet (1935-present)

Desmond Tutu

Dinah Craik

Dominique Levy

Dorothy Parker

Poet and writer (1893-1967)

Edgar Allan Poe

Writer, poet, and critic (1809-1849)

Elbert Hubbard

Writer and publisher (1856-1915)

Eleanor Farjeon

Ella Fitzgerald

Ellen Burstyn

Elvis Presley

Singer and actor (1935-1977)

Emily Dickinson

Poet (1830-1886)

Ernest Hemingway

Nobel Prize-winning writer (1899-1961)

Esther Perel

Psychotherapist and author (1958-present)

Fred Rogers

Television host (1928-2003)

Frida Kahlo

Mexican painter and self-portraitist (1907-1954)

Gail Honeyman

Scottish writer (1972-present)

George Eliot

English writer (1819-1880)

George Orwell

Gloria Steinem

Journalist, feminist, and activist (1934-present)

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Hafiz

Hamilton Wright Mabie

Essayist, editor, critic, and lecturer (1846-1916)

Hannah Gadsby

Australian comedian and writer (1978-present)

Helen Keller

Author, educator, and activist (1880-1968)

Henry David Thoreau

Writer, philosopher, and naturalist (1817-1862)

Ian McKellen

Indira Gandhi

Isaac Asimov

Isabel Allende

Chilean American writer (1942-present)

J.M. Barrie

Scottish novelist and playwright (1860-1937)

Jacinda Ardern

40th prime minister of New Zealand (1980-present)

Jack Kerouac

Novelist and poet (1922-1969)

Jack Kornfield

Buddhist teacher (1945-present)

James Baldwin

Writer and civil rights activist (1924-1987)

James Clear

Jane Austen

English author (1775-1817)

Jane Goodall

Animal scientist and conservationist (1934-2025)

Janis Joplin

Jeff Brown

Jenny Slate

Jesse Jackson

Joan Didion

Writer and journalist (1934-2021)

Jodi Picoult

Author (1966-present)

John Steinbeck

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer (1902-1968)

John Wooden

Joyce Brothers

Judy Garland

Actress, singer, and dancer (1922-1969)

Julia Alvarez

Novelist and poet (1950-present)

Kahlil Gibran

Lebanese American writer (1883-1931)

Keanu Reeves

Kevin Kelly

Editor and publisher (1952-present)

Kurt Vonnegut

Author (1922-2007)

Lady Gaga

Singer-songwriter and actress (1986-present)

Lois Wyse

Louisa May Alcott

Author and poet (1832-1888)

Louise Erdrich

Lucille Ball

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Canadian author (1874-1942)

Mahatma Gandhi

Indian independence leader (1869-1948)

Malvina Reynolds

Manolo Blahnik

Marcel Proust

French novelist (1871-1922)

Marianne Williamson

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights leader (1929-1968)

Mary Karr

Poet, essayist, and memoirist (1955-present)

Maya Angelou

Poet, author, and civil rights activist (1928-2014)

Meghan Markle

Mitch Albom

Author, sports journalist, and philanthropist (1958-present)

Nick Laird

Northern Irish novelist and poet (1975-present)

Olga Tokarczuk

Nobel Prize-winning Polish writer (1962-present)

Oprah Winfrey

TV host, producer, and actress (1954-present)

Oscar Wilde

Irish poet and playwright (1854-1900)

Paul Lewis Boese

Paul McCartney

Paul Williams

Composer, singer, and actor (1940-present)

Pema Chödrön

Buddhist nun and teacher (1936-present)

Peter Drucker

Austrian American consultant, educator, and author (1909-2005)

Philip Barry

Playwright (1896-1949)

Pope Benedict XVI

Rabindranath Tagore

Indian poet (1861-1941)

Richard Bach

Author and pilot (1936-present)

River Phoenix

Actor (1970-1993)

Robert Graves

Robert Hunter

Poet and lyricist for the Grateful Dead (1941-2019)

Rose Franken

Rumi

Persian poet and mystic (1207–1273)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

English poet and literary critic (1772-1834)

Sarah Bernhardt

French actress (1844-1923)

Saul Bellow

Canadian American writer (1915-2005)

Shane Koyczan

Shel Silverstein

Poet, cartoonist, and musician (1930-1999)

Sherwood Anderson

Novelist and short story writer (1876-1941)

Simone Weil

French philosopher (1909-1943)

Spike Jonze

Filmmaker (1969-present)

Stephen Sondheim

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and lyricist (1930-2021)

Sue Monk Kidd

Suleika Jaouad

Writer, advocate, and motivational speaker (1988-present)

Susan Sontag

Writer and cultural critic (1933-2004)

Taylor Swift

Singer-songwriter (1989-present)

Teresa of Ávila

Spanish nun and mystic (1515-1582)

Thích Nhất Hạnh

Vietnamese Buddhist monk (1926-2022)

Tom Waits

Musician and actor (1949-present)

Toni Morrison

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (1931-2019)

Ursula K. Le Guin

Science fiction author (1929-2018)

Vera Wang

Vincent van Gogh

Dutch postimpressionist painter (1853-1890)

Viola Davis

EGOT-winning actress and producer (1965-present)

Virginia Woolf

English writer (1882-1941)

Wendy Wunder

Author

William Arthur Ward

Motivational writer (1921-1994)

William Blake

English poet and painter (1757-1827)

William Shakespeare

English playwright and poet (c. 1564-1616)

William Somerset Maugham

English novelist and playwright (1874-1965)

Yoko Ono

Artist and peace activist (1933-present)

Zelda Fitzgerald

Zora Neale Hurston

Writer and anthropologist (1891-1960)